Downsizing from a detached home to a semi-detached property across the UK could leave movers with a windfall of £205,157, said Jackson Stops.

This figure has increased by £8,681 since January alone, and by £44,226 since 2020, the estate agent added.

And the amount homeowners can unlock by downsizing rises to an eye-watering £800,000 in some areas.

Where downsizing pays best

Elmbridge in Surrey tops the charts for those looking for the largest equity release when moving from a detached home to a smaller semi-detached, with a difference of £805,428.

Excluding London, the top 10 locations which gave buyers the largest sum left over after downsizing from a detached home to a semi-detached were all based in the home counties. They are:

Tim Firth, director of Jackson-Stops Weybridge, explained: “Surrey has hit top of the charts for good reason. The long-term growth of the large family home market here has far superseded that of the apartment and smaller homes market, which means the gap in value can feel enormous and be a hugely lucrative move for any keen downsizers looking to cash in whilst house prices remain buoyant, getting a more manageable sized home in the process.

“Detached homes have always been in such high demand in Surrey, as a melting pot for families and high earners leaving the capital, often their first steppingstone towards the countryside. Families will move here and stay for decades. It’s not like London where postcodes can be much more transient. Older sellers I speak to have been here 30 or 40 years, with established roots and a social life that they don’t want to walk away from in their downsize. They might move just 20 minutes down the road, or to an outlying village, but never too far.”

Huge potential

Jackson-Stops said that the number of downsizer enquiries are now higher than pre-pandemic, having increased by 21% since 2019.

Potential downsizers make up 24% of all households aged 55 and over, amounting to 2.9 million homes.

With baby boomers being the largest proportion of the UK population, the estate agent estimated that if all potential downsizers decided to make the move, over £594 billion in equity could be released.

Nick Leeming, chairman of Jackson-Stops, said: “Baby boomers are prominent amongst our housing landscape and hold the key to unlocking property wealth. Many high value areas not only provide the biggest purchasing power for an onward downsizer property, but could also mean significantly more financial agility in the future, and for some, living mortgage free.”